2026: a year of cautious optimism

AS THE final moments of 2025 slipped away and the skies lit up with fireworks, I took stock.

- NYANISO QWESHA

And I hoped, quietly. The kind that comes from having been disappointed before and still choosing to believe again.The arrival of 2026 feels heavier. It feels earned. After years marked by economic strain, political fatigue, and social anxiety, there is a growing sense that South Africa may finally be steadying itself. Not racing ahead. Not celebrating victory. Just finding its balance again.

President Cyril Ramaphosa's New Year's message reflected this moment. His call for unity, partnership, and shared responsibility was familiar, yet it landed differently this time. He spoke of confronting unemployment, poverty, and inequality through collective effort, urging business, labour, civil society, and citizens to pull in the same direction. South Africans have heard these words before. Many have rolled their eyes at them. But this year, perhaps because expectations are lower and realism has replaced hype, the message felt less like rhetoric and more like a challenge. The unspoken question now is simple. Will action follow intention?